Hounding Report: Twins at Rangers, June 29

Sometimes, it's just best to quit while you're ahead. It's a lesson I repeatedly fail to learn in 'graphing.

After getting 16 sigs yesterday and finding a cheap ticket online, I figured maybe I could add a few more on Sunday. Maybe Blyleven, Molitor, and/or Steinbach. Maybe I'd have a shot at a foul ball or two. Maybe the Rangers would help my Indians out in making the Twins trail a little further.

Let's start with the 'graphing.

I'll save you all the time: I did not get either of those big three.  I may try Molitor by mail, and definitely will try Steinbach. Molitor occasionally signs (always one-per) while Steinbach charges a whole $2 per sig, benefiting his scholarship fund. I would gladly pay that. Hell, I might even grab 30 cards, toss in $100 (a little extra donation since that's a shit-ton of cards), and let him have at it.

At the tunnel, only Ron Washington, Neal Cotts, and Kevin Kouzmanoff stopped.  I was out of Cotts, but I did get Wash on a card (last one, I'm out of him again) and Kouzmanoff on three.  Inside, I added Bobby Cuellar to the Twins' team card and got two signed by Eduardo Escobar.

In the seventh inning I almost caught my second foul ball ever. Normally I don't bring a mitt, but since I'd be sitting in Potential Screaming Line Drive Territory, I figure I should break out my 23-year old Mark McGwire signature model Rawlings first baseman's mitt (why someone 5'8" at age 30 owns a first baseman's mitt, I can't explain) and carry it with me. Sitting down the LF line, Leonys Martin lifted a foul ball out of play... right toward me. I took a step to the right, shielded the sun with my glove, opened it, and it fell right in... followed by the glove of the kid in front of me, knocking the ball out and the glove away from the sun, temporarily blinding me.  The ball skittered away and was picked up by someone else who was cowering away from something as terrifying as a lazy fly ball while I was trying to regain my vision.  Thanks kid.

And the Twins won. Oy vey.

TOTALS: 7 autographs from 4 players.